Rayburns...

[Valderee]

I've heard so much good and bad on having a Rayburn onboard. I greatly welcome advice from you experienced boaters if the investment would be worth the down side of possibly having a galley full of ash/soot when I get it wrong?

[carlt]

If I ever have a boat big enough again the first thing I will do is get another Rayburn.

 

Someone else will be along shortly to tell you they will never have another of the dirty, smelly things aboard ever again.

 

I think the trick is knowing how to use them properly.

[RLWP]

Rayburns seem to be susceptible to temperature cycling. If you keep it in over the winter, it seems they are OK. If you let them get hot, then go cold for a while and continue the cycle like that, the top rusts and burst the enamel

 

Well, that's what Rayburn said caused the top of the one I'm familiar with to burst the enamel

 

Richard

[Trento]

I put a reconditioned Rayburn in my newbuild nearly 3 years ago, never experience any rusting or bursting of the enamel !!!

But, I can agree with Carl, its a matter of knowing/learning your particular appliance.

 

Dust and ash can be a problem. But no better or worse than any other sold fuel stove.

Put one in, youll not regret it.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Trento

[Valderee]

Thank you for your replies and advice. I shall, when I find a boat I like, be putting a Rayburn in... Now I need to try and source a decent re-con. Oh the joys of starting out eh?! Haha x

[Morat]

Wouldn't you get an oil fired one?

[BGA]

What's all this excitement about a pair of sunglasses Ooooh a cooker

[Trento]

A PA 28 spam can ..eh, BGA..

[Robbo]

Wouldn't you get an oil fired one?

 

I'm looking to get a oil fired one, with two burners - does anyone have any experience of these on a boat?

[mrsmelly]

Wouldn't you get an oil fired one?

Hi

 

Why would you? solid fuel is superior in every way. I agree with Carl, they are awesome bits of kit. We had one in a house and it was fantastic.

 

Tim

[homer2911]

What is the point though - I really am interested. Surely on a warm day, having to keep a Rayburn fired up just to cook on is uncomfortable, to say the least?

[canals are us?]

I would never have a rayburn onboard a narrowboat as I would miss being able to view the fire and the space they take up. If I had a widebeam I would have something like the esse ironheart or the la Nordica supreme etc with a glass door to see the fire.

To be honest though I would probably buy a stove and just have a gas cooker for cooking.

 

I installed a reconditioned rayburn nouvelle and it looked fabulous but you were almost shovelling in the fuel in the large firebox to heat the 8 rads and certainly wasn't the most efficient.

 

James.

Edited September 7, 2013 by canals are us?

[Ange]

What is the point though - I really am interested. Surely on a warm day, having to keep a Rayburn fired up just to cook on is uncomfortable, to say the least?

Exactly why we'd only have a Rayburn if we had another oven to use in the summer, which within the constraints of narrowboat space doesn't work to my mind.

[Trento]

I read the above posts assured of the fact that those who query the wisdom of installing a Rayburn in a narrowboat have never had such a unit fitted, nor have they ever been onboard a boat that has.

After three years living with the Rayburn I can concede to ash and dust, for the rest... NO

[sueb]

Had a rayburn on our boat for years, as well as a gas cooker. It seemed a good idea at the time but the amount of dust was horrific. When I opened the fire to cook hubby complained about the smoke, as he couldn't see. If we left the boat for any time inn the winter we came back to a cold boat untill the rayburn got hot (several hours) It eventually fell to pieces and we got a stockton six which was far superior

[carlt]

What is the point though - I really am interested. Surely on a warm day, having to keep a Rayburn fired up just to cook on is uncomfortable, to say the least?

I have an Origo meths cooker that was used when the Rayburn wasn't lit and it wasn't barbecue weather.

the amount of dust was horrific. When I opened the fire to cook hubby complained about the smoke, as he couldn't see. If we left the boat for any time inn the winter we came back to a cold boat untill the rayburn got hot (several hours) It eventually fell to pieces and we got a stockton six which was far superior

A rayburn that produces a "horrific" amount of dust and smoked when used for cooking is either not being used correctly or is about to "fall to pieces".

 

My Rayburn was up, running and kicking out heat about 30 minutes from cold, about the same as the Torgem it replaced.

[Ange]

I read the above posts assured of the fact that those who query the wisdom of installing a Rayburn in a narrowboat have never had such a unit fitted, nor have they ever been onboard a boat that has.

After three years living with the Rayburn I can concede to ash and dust, for the rest... NO

Just out of interest do you have another oven for cooking on really hot days? I ask because we stayed aboard a friend's boat recently who only has a rayburn for oven cooking and the joint of meat she had was passed to another boater to be cooked because lighting the rayburn was out of the question.

[Valderee]

When I was a kid...many moons ago... we had a Rayburn on the family boat and it was used for cooking during all seasons and it was ok.. But I see the point in a really hot summer, I think then I shall eat salads and pre cooked meats but the winter months and we get more of those in England I can just see a pan of stew or similar bubbling away... Til I forget to throw wood on!!! haha

once again, thanks for your input...I appreciate it

[Matthew Dowson]

Our Rayburn is a brilliant bit of kit. We have a small 4 ring hob for the summer, although this summer we fired it up for a few days when it was a bit cooler.

[sueb]

A stew will cook on top of a small solid fuel stove without getting a large Rayburn

[BGA]

A PA 28 spam can ..eh, BGA..

Yes a very under powered spam can which is no more as a result of a very long story about a wrongly fitted carb heat control luckily I wasn't in it at the time

[carlt]

A stew will cook on top of a small solid fuel stove without getting a large Rayburn

Yes but attempting to cook a roast dinner inside a small solid fuel stove will prove disastrous.

[wrigglefingers]

I'll 'fess up.

 

I am the owner of the joint of meat that needed to be given to Red Wharf to be cooked and it is my Rayburn that is showering enamel off the the black top. It has been the source of endless comment by my friends but that said, I wouldn't be without it on a cold day in winter - unlimited water, warm, gentle heat and a superb oven. I use a Remoska in summer to give me roasting capacity and the two ring burner is constantly used.

 

However, the problems occur when I'm flying around as the Rayburn is only intermittently fired and I've been restricted to burning the locally available Welsh Steam coal which has proved impossible to keep in consistently overnight and is difficult to damp down and leave to trickle along. The three years that I've had Cobbett have been spent taming the beast and as far as visitors to her are concerned matters are not made any better by the surveyor's insistence that the flue must not be angled or closer to the wooden lining than the RCD regs state. This has meant that the stove is angled at 22.5degs to Cobbett's sides making passage through the kitchen difficult. Moreover, a four burner on the worktop was ruled out by the surveyor due to the tumblehome on Cobbett's hull. It's been frustrating at times ....